Arunachal Pradesh finds difficult to run blood bank due to power shortage

The district hospital at Ziro in Lower Subansiri district of Arunachal Pradesh, one of the oldest in the state, is facing myriad problems in maintaining its blood bank in the absence of regular electricity supply to the hospital.
The hospital has the basic facilitates to run its blood bank, with four blood storage machines, a blood donor couch and a blood donation room, but all of them remain defunct due to irregular power supply, blood bank officer (pathologist) Dr Joram Khopey said.
"People are willing to donate blood, but we cannot avail it because of storage problem as power sometimes go on for over 12 hours at a stretch," he said.
Chief Secretary Ramesh Negi during his recent visit to the blood bank had assured to provide a solar inverter.
"If it is done, we can revive this blood bank, since there is no dearth of donors," Dr Khopey said.
He further informed that after taking over the charge of blood bank officer in November 2013, he has conducted awareness programmes with students, officers and the public.
"As an outcome, people have turned up to donate blood voluntarily, but I had to turn them down because of this storage problem.
However, we have their identities and contact numbers and we call them as and when blood is required.
If this bank is made functional with uninterrupted power supply, people of Lower Subansiri, Upper Subansiri and Kurung Kumey will benefit from its blood bank," Dr Khopey said.